FDA racketeering not worthy of media attention

April 30, 2016

Today we are bombarded by never ending election coverage focused on two main factions and the circus presidential candidates do not mind performing in. Money flows through campaigns in grotesquely large amounts as people donate their dollars and time in the cause of one faction or another. A large amount of the dollars collected fuels the political complex paying media companies, pollsters, campaign managers, and more who help keep people focused on soundbite concerns and political divides. Combined with the onslaught of prescription drug commercials it becomes clearer why the media seems fixated on certain stories while ignoring others.

Emails soliciting campaign contributions (from any number of politicians, special interest groups, and factions) have a proven formula. It does not matter if the email is from a so-called conservative or progressive. The patter is simple; the other side is doing a terrible thing you don’t like so you need to give any amount you can afford, immediately, to help us stop them from hurting you. A democrat may send out a warning of an attack on Obamacare, threatening the other side is going to dismantle it…give now to help us stop them. A republican may send out a plea to help them repeal Obamacare before it is too late…give now to help us stop them.

People buy it time after time and the donations flow in to fuel the political complex. There’s a reason 24 hour news channels spend more time on campaigns than real world news. Even when reporting events happening around the globe the pundits spin the story back to the current campaign, sweeping the real news from the headlines while propping up the political players as if that is the real story. Unless it is a very tragic disaster not much more will be focused on the true events; true events do not pay the bills as well as the campaigns through their commercial buys, ratings, and support.

Prescription drug commercials work toward boiling down physical ailments to three letters and attempt to stir in some cute looking body part (like the pink bladder). All the while urging us to talk with our doctors about getting on the drug. Ignore the myriad of side effects, simply get a prescription to feel better. Are the current drugs you’re taking causing you challenges, perhaps opioid constipation? Talk with your doctor, there’s a drug for that.

Are consistent attacks on public health from drug companies worthy of media attention? What about corruption at the highest levels of federal bureaucracy, agencies brought into existence to supposedly protect public health, like the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)? How about direct links between drug companies, politicians, and bureaucrats who collude to put our health at risk? Has the 24 hour news cycle stopped their campaign coverage for even a full day to focus on the stories of systemic racketeering within the FDA?

Remember the report on the love triangle between Monsanto, FDA, and Big Pharma, surrounding the ills of processed foods and why we are driven toward their consumption? No? The article dared to declare, “Big Pharma is big money. Your suffering is their gain.”

You must recall the story of the farming co-op in Michigan where the MDA required the natural farmers to dump 248 gallons of raw milk and destroy 1200 (100 dozen) eggs in front of the agents, right? The author stated, “I’ll tell you what’s wrong – big corporations do not want us to have options. They want a monopoly and they are working hard to destroy our other choices.”

What about March 2014 when an article shed light on a whistleblower who wanted all of us to know there was criminal racketeering going on at the FDA? In part the story shared, “Kavanagh’s revelations are astonishing. He recalls a meeting where a drug-company representative flat-out stated that his company had paid the FDA for a new-drug approval.”

Racketeering in 2014 is followed by this past week’s news former FDA commissioner, Dr. Margaret Hamburg (one of the longest serving), was named in a lawsuit for violating RICO law. “A Federal Lawsuit charges Dr. Margaret Hamburg, former Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) with conspiracy, racketeering & colluding to conceal deadly drug dangers – under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations law (RICO) law.”

Within the lawsuit her contributions to the Clintons (dating back to the 90s) and Obama are pointed to as one way she secured the position in 2009. It also states her husband went from earning $10 million in 2008 to $125 million in 2011 and another $95 million in 2012. Obviously, $10 million is not enough to live on so she found a nice way to help her husband’s income dramatically increase and if a few unsafe drugs had to hit the market so be it. Don’t forget she was paid a nice taxpayer salary for her efforts. Oh, didn’t hear about that either?

How about the efforts to destroy the U.S. mom and pop vaping industry? Their crime against Big Pharma is trying to help people safely begin a smoke-free journey by helping people quit smoking. While the Royal College of Physicians and Public Health England (UK’s equivalent to the FDA) are sharing the true facts about the benefits of vaping over smoking the FDA is about to pass rules that will decimate the U.S. industry and states are taxing and restricting the use while the Center for Disease Control (CDC) questions everything without facts to back up their claims, simply scary sounding hyperbole taxpayers pay for.

You see, in England they state clearly, scientifically, and conclusively vaping saves lives but that does not go over well with Big Pharma, Big Tobacco, or the political class here. Lives are not nearly as important as power, money, and control. What is really impressive is how all this goes on beyond any votes from the people, you don’t elect these thieves. Truth has no place in the conversation when it comes to protecting big business and our administrative bureaucracy.

FDA racketeering is not worthy of media attention which is why you have heard so much about the debate over bathroom use while you hear so little at all about the many ways our health is jeopardized everyday by the companies and agencies supposedly in place to protect us. The only way we can be protected is by getting out of the media’s news cycle, break away from politicians campaigning on empty promises and dig into the truth. But that would mean less time to protest for safe spaces, $15 an hour wages, and free college tuition.